Remembering the Roman People

Essays on Late-Republican Politics and Literature

T. P. Wiseman

Analysis of varied types of ancient evidence engages readers in the search for understanding

Remembering the Roman People

Essays on Late-Republican Politics and Literature

T. P. Wiseman

Description

In the Roman republic, only the People could pass laws, only the People could elect politicians to office, and the very word republica meant 'the People's business'. So why is it always assumed that the republic was an oligarchy? The main reason is that most of what we know about it we know from Cicero, a great man and a great writer, but also an active right-wing politician who took it for granted that what was good for a small minority of self-styled 'best people' (optimates) was good for the republic as a whole. T. P. Wiseman interprets the last century of the republic on the assumption that the People had a coherent political ideology of its own, and that the optimates, with their belief in justified murder, were responsible for the breakdown of the republic in civil war.

Remembering the Roman People

Essays on Late-Republican Politics and Literature

T. P. Wiseman

Table of Contents

1. Roman History and the Ideological Vacuum2. The Fall and Rise of Gaius Geta3. Licinius Macer, Juno Moneta and Veiovis4. Romulus' Rome of Equals5. Macaulay on Cicero6. Cicero and Varro7. Marcopolis8. The Political Stage9. The Ethics of Murder10. After the Ides of MarchEpilogue

Remembering the Roman People

Essays on Late-Republican Politics and Literature

T. P. Wiseman

Author Information

T. P. Wiseman is Emeritus Professor of Classics, University of Exeter.